Amaris
by AmoDomus
Summary: When David tells Temperance he loves her, he doesn't get the answer he wants. The fallout leaves Tempe devestated and running to the one person that can make it ok again. BB


Hello all! This was my first attempt at Bones fanfiction, and I hope it ended up ok. Its just a little fluffy oneshot that hit me late one night. Darn those plot bunnies...so detrimental to getting real life stuff done. So yeah, hope you enjoy. I don't own anything, as evidenced by the fact that Booth is not locked in my closet. On to the fic!

Well, he had done it now.

He had said those three little words…three little words most women would give anything to hear from their significant others.

Unfortunately for him, Temperance Brennan was not most women.

Most women would have smiled sweetly, repeated the words, or leaned in for a searing kiss. Some women may not have even felt the same, but they would at least have been warmed by the soft words and let their dates down easily. One woman stared blankly at her date for the better part of a very awkward two or three minutes.

"Um, Tempe?" David's slightly hurt but concerned voice brought Temperance back from her thoughts into the softly lit Italian restaurant. "No pressure or anything, but just sitting there is a little wearing on a guy's ego."

Brennan stared at him for a second longer before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, David, I didn't mean…" Didn't mean what? "It's just…I mean…"

David's face paled slightly. "I'm not expecting anything, Tempe, I just thought you might like to know…"

"It's flattering, for sure, David, but after everything, I just can't…" Seeing the dismay on her date's face turn into a frighteningly cold indifference made the already ineloquent Brennan stutter more than before. "With all the things that have happened in the past few months…"

"Our entire relationship, you mean." She winced at the ice in his voice.

"I'm sorry, but the timing wasn't exactly my fault. It's just, I've been through a lot, and I'm dealing, but I can't make a commitment right now."

"I'm not asking for a commitment! I just told you I love you, and all I get in return is an 'I can't" ?"

"What bigger commitment is there?" She knew her voice was becoming raised and the other couples at the surrounding tables were looking, but she didn't care. "I've been kidnapped, accused of murder, found out that my mother was dead and my parents weren't who I thought they were, all in the past few months…"

"All of which I did not find out about until much later, might I add. You can't even put enough into this relationship to call me when you need help." His eyes bored into hers, and she squirmed in her seat despite herself.

"David, I've only known you a few months, I didn't want to drag you into my life.."

"I _want _to be dragged in, Temperance. You won't let me. You won't let me in at all, emotionally. I think you're incapable of love."

Temperance recoiled like she had just been dealt a physical blow. "Incapable of love? I am not a sociopath, David." Unbidden, the image of saying that to a cocky FBI agent came to her mind, but she pushed it away quickly.

"I never said you were. I'm just saying that with everything going on in your life, you are incapable of loving, or being loved." David's voice didn't falter at all, terrifying Brennen with the implication that maybe he had thought these things all along.

"That makes no logical sense, David. You say that you love me, and then tell me I am incapable of being loved? That's a contradiction." The last three words were said as a lifeline, as if saying them would make all his accusations untrue.

His expression, now stoic, didn't falter. "Love requires both parties, Temperance. Love requires some effort on your part, effort that you seem unwilling to give to me. I pray for your sake that you discover a way to love. I can't help you there." In one smooth motion, he grabbed the check left on the table and disappeared, leaving Temperance staring, shell-shocked, at an empty chair.

Somehow Brennen had managed to leave the tip and the restaurant, and drive across town to an apartment complex.

The only thing was, it wasn't her apartment complex.

Standing in front of a door, she really began to wonder if she was insane. _Why here? Why, of all the places I could have gone tonight, did I choose here? _The answer was not something she needed to dwell on too long. Instead, she took a deep breath and rapped sharply on the door.

It opened in a matter of moments, revealing a very rumpled FBI agent with the remote in one hand and a confused expression on his face. "Bones? To what do I owe this late pleasure?"

Glancing behind her bemused partner, she noticed the clock on the wall. 11:05. _How in the world did it get to be so late? _"Booth, I'm sorry, I didn't what time it was… I'll…" Her rambling retreat was cut short by a hand on her arm.

"I was kidding, Bones. I wasn't asleep. And besides, you know you're always welcome here." To prove his point, he moved away from his doorframe, allowing her to move past him and into the apartment. As she heard the door click behind her, she suddenly panicked, realizing she had nothing to say.

She stood there for a moment, staring around the apartment at the various personal knick-knacks and photographs. Several of Parker dotted the tables and shelves, a couple of Booth and a group of guys she could only guess were Army buddies, two of a smiling couple that Brennan could only assume were Booth's parents, and one… she did a double take at the photo that stood on the end table. It was of them.

It was taken in the lab, though for the life of her she couldn't remember when. They were standing outside the door of her office, deep in discussion about something. She wore the serious, calculated expression she often wore at work, staring down at a file in her hand. Booth leaned casually up against the doorframe, smirking at her in his typical way. It was a normal instant captured by someone at the lab, probably Angela or possibly Zack. Why Booth had it was beyond her.

"Angela took it." Booth's soft voice behind her answered the unasked question. "A couple of months ago. I saw her out of the corner of my eye and demanded a copy. She probably was going to give one to you eventually."

Brennan nodded mutely. She knew Angela would give her a copy eventually, probably disguised as a Valentine's Day gift or something stupid like that, with "You two belong together!" written hastily on the attached card. She shook her head, refusing to ponder on that idea, or why the thought of Booth keeping a picture of her in his living room made her feel so warm inside. She still had to figure out an excuse for being here in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, she began. "Booth, I really am sorry for coming by so late…"

"No apology necessary, Bones, we've been over this part." The shadow of a smirk crossed his face, but his dark eyes were still narrowed in concern. "Now it's time for the entire 'why' part of the equation."

Slowly Temperance lowered herself onto his couch, staring at her hands. She tensed slightly as she felt the weight of another body lower itself beside her, and visibly jerked when a warm hand covered her own. She relaxed almost instantaneously, though, and sighed. "I was on a date with David tonight." The arm brushing hers tensed. "He told me he loved me."

The hand that had been caressing hers gently was gone in an instant, along with the warmth of the body so near to hers. She looked up, startled, to see Booth backed against the arm of the chair, looking as if he'd been slapped in the face. "He _what?_"

"Told me he loved me." Utterly bewildered at her partner's strange behavior, she decided to finish the story before he imploded. "But…"

"Now he wants you to stop spending so much time with me. 'I love you, honey, but the FBI agent has got to go'. Am I right, Bones? Am I still allowed to call you that?" Booth had now completely left the couch, and was standing across the coffee table from her, near-desperation etched across his features. He seemed honestly terrified that she would choose David over his friendship, and it shocked her beyond comprehension.

"First of all, you've never been _allowed _to call me Bones." His expression didn't change, so she decided that her pathetic attempts at joking weren't going to help right now. "And secondly, I would never pick him over you. I hope you know that."

The man staring at her visibly relaxed, giving her what she could only assume was an attempt at a smile. They stared at each other for a moment before Booth broke the silence. "So, Davie-boy loves you. That's great, I'm happy for you." She almost pointed out the fact that he sounded anything but happy, but then she remembered the reason she was here.

"It's not a happy ending, Booth." All the words that had been hurtled her way earlier that night came back and hit her full force. "I didn't…I didn't answer him….I told him I couldn't commit right now, and he lost it." Tears stung behind her eyes, but she tried to push them away. "I mean, I know it's unfair to him, but I can't…I just can't be there right now…"

The hand appeared on hers again, and she turned to see that Booth was once again beside her, his eyes coaxing her to continue. "We kind of got into an argument…though it didn't last very long. He told me…" Her voice cracked, and the hand on hers stilled. She dared a glance up at the man beside her, who was now looking at her in unmasked concern. Somehow that gave her the strength to continue. "He told me I was incapable of loving and being loved."

Booth was gone again, but this time his look was one of barely-supressed anger. Before Temperance could understand what was going on, he had grabbed his coat from the chair and was heading toward the door. "Booth, where are you going?"

"To threaten and berate your date." He stopped at the doorway and turned, as if the answer to the question was obvious. "I've handled gangsters before, Dick431 shouldn't be an issue."

Deciding to push the gangster comment back for further investigation, she quickly followed him to the door. "Booth, don't." She caught his hand on the doorknob and pulled it away. "What will threatening him accomplish?"

"Make me feel better." The answer sounded slightly begrudging as Booth turned and heading back to the couch. "And I have a feeling you'd enjoy it somewhat."

"But would it make him believe I was any more capable of love? Or just that I have an FBI agent as a personal hit man?" She sat beside him on the couch, smiling slightly for the first time since the horrific date.

"I think that was a joke, Bones." Booth returned her smile for an instant before clouding over again. "I still want to find him and beat him up or something."

"Alpha male tendencies." Brennan shook her head. "Won't change a thing, Booth. It's over."

"How do you feel about that?" The tenderness in his voice was laced with something she couldn't place. Hope?

She sighed again. "About the relationship ending? Not as bad as I thought. At the idea that I can't love or even be loved? Not so great."

"He didn't mean that, Bones. It was said in a moment of anger."

"People often say what they really feel in moments of anger." Tears pricked the back of her eyes again, and she focused on the bookshelf across the room. "He meant exactly what he said. And what scares me…what scares me is he might be right."

"He's not right!" She looked back at Booth quickly, startled by the outburst. Her partner's eyes were flashing dangerously, and he was clutching the throw pillow as if it were David's head. "You are by no means incapable of love, Bones."

"You always say I'm bad with people." The words slipped out without her meaning them too, and they sounded slightly more hurt than she would have liked. Booth loosened his grip on the pillow and looked almost ashamed, if she believed such a thing were possible.

"So you lack social skills. That doesn't have anything to do with your ability to love someone. You don't open up to many people, but you do allow some people into your life. I know you love Angela as a sister, and Russ. And, in some way, shape or form you care about the rest of your squint squad. And me." The last words were lower, laced with unrecognizable emotion.

Brennan felt a warmth rise in her chest, but she still had the sting of the argument playing like a broken record in the back of her mind. "I do care about all of you, but he said I was incapable of being loved, too…in a romantic sense, I'm assuming, because he knows I care about Angela and Russ…"

"The guy tells you he loves you and then you're incapable of being loved?" Booth's reaction, almost verbatim to hers, almost caused her to smile. Almost.

"He said…he said that love requires both parties, that…that I have to be willing to put something in, and I'm not." Swallowing hard, she continued. "I guess, I mean, he's right, I wasn't willing to give him that…and…"

"Being loved doesn't require anything on your part." Booth's interruption was soft. "You can be loved without giving anything at all in return. It's called unconditional love, and I guess that's not something Mr. Incapability can understand."

The tears did come to the surface then, but didn't fall. "I guess so, but still…I mean, I know people care about me, but no one really loves me…I mean, _that_ kind of love…like you said, unconditionally. I couldn't even allow the one guy who could have possibly loved me in. David, he was the only guy I've seen since Micheal, and I know he didn't love me like that".

Booth was silent for a long moment, and Brennan was almost positive she had given him something with which he couldn't argue. That caused an entirely new type of pain, and a single tear rolled down her cheek before she heard his next words, spoken so quietly she almost missed them. "You are loved, Temperance."

_You are loved. _Language classes came flooding back to her, and in her usual way she used logic to break the phrase apart. Second person, present, passive. Present – you are loved now…not _you were loved_, or _you will be loved_. She _was_ loved, by someone, at this instant. Passive – an action done to her _requiring no effort on her part. _

Slowly she raised her eyes to look at him. His eyes were dark and deep, filled with some emotion she wished she could recognize. They stared at each other for a long moment, his hand coming up to brush the tear off her cheek. The doctorates she had earned, the internships she had attended…nothing allowed her to read the answers caught in that simple look and touch. "Who, Booth?"

His answer came with the closing of the gap between them. Booth's lips met hers in a tender kiss that ignited feelings in places she thought died years earlier. When he pulled away he smiled tenderly, his hand still caressing her cheek. She smiled back breathlessly.

"Me, Bones. It's always been me." The last few tears she held behind her eyes fell down her cheeks to be caught by the warm hand waiting there. "I don't care whether or not you can love me now, or ever. This is unconditional, Temperance. It will be here if and when you need it."

"Just like you."

His smile grew wider, and he leaned his forehead against hers. "Yeah, just like me."

She smiled in return, and leaned in to kiss him softly. "I think I can do this." His eyes begged her to continue, like a little boy who needed to know the end of the story before he could get to sleep. "David…he didn't know me. You do. I have already let you in…already loved you." The eyes she was focused on danced in delight. "I can do this…love you…because I already do. Does that make any logical sense at all?"

"Doesn't have to, Bones. It doesn't have to." With that, he leaned in again, and all thoughts of David were forgotten. A few days later, Booth would meet him in a restaurant and slam him against a wall, threatening and thanking him all in one brief, slightly terrifying conversation. A few days later Angela would squeal delightedly at seeing her favorite project kissing inside a closed office door. A few days later the world would know about Dr. Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth, but tonight they couldn't care less.

Well, there it is! I'm proud for finally getting it up. I'm working on another fic, longer and more in depth, that I'll hopefully upload pretty soon. I love reviews of any kind, so please leave me some! I will give you imaginary muffins :holds one out: See? I love you all


End file.
